Tissue regeneration in humans is extremely limited and constitutes a major challenge to the repair of damaged limb function. Injured tissues are able to heal by regeneration, by repair, or by a combination of these processes. Regeneration results in the re-establishment of the original tissue structure and function. Bodily structures comprised of composite tissues, such as a limb or digit, or an appendage, are made of numerous cell types arranged in an organized and iterative structure that is preserved from individual to individual. When composite tissues or bodily structures comprised of composite tissues are injured, regeneration requires the coordinated growth, and interactions of numerous cell types within the composite tissues to regenerate a bodily structure that effectively is indistinguishable from the original. Tissue regeneration is a rapidly developing field of biomedical research that aims at regenerating damaged tissues. But in mammals and other higher organisms, there is a failure of regeneration of composite or complex tissues. Therefore, there is a need for methods and compositions to regenerate damaged or injured tissue and limbs after injury.